


5. Library

by INeverHadMyInternetPhase



Series: Running Into You [5]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Awkwardness, Fluff, Library, M/M, fangirl!Dan, non-youtuber!Dan, youtuber!Phil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-13
Updated: 2016-07-13
Packaged: 2018-07-23 20:25:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7478760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/INeverHadMyInternetPhase/pseuds/INeverHadMyInternetPhase
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's exam season at uni, and Dan is stressed out of his mind. In an attempt to escape the crowded university campus, he finds a small library out of the way to settle into. Only, the seat opposite him is empty aside from a bag, a coat, and his laptop, and a phone that won't stop going off.</p>
            </blockquote>





	5. Library

**Author's Note:**

> Every work in this series follows the exact same format, sooooo I'm sorry they're getting a bit repetitive. I suppose there's only a limited number of things that can happen when two people meet for the first time. Anyway, I think this one might be slightly less awkward. Dan's in his first year at uni, Phil is the YouTuber we all know and love, and they've never interacted up until this point. Enjoy!

Dan’s head hit the desk with a loud _smack._

He was _exhausted_ , ok? The last term of university was an absolute nightmare, with the professors of every module deciding to throw all the exams into the same week and, on top of that, adding a couple of essay deadlines and a presentation on top. As if students didn’t already have enough to do.

As a result, the university buildings were filled with bleary-eyed faces wearing panicked expression, hauling giant bags of books with them everywhere they went. If a student wasn’t studying, they were catching a nap in one of the quieter corners.

Needless to say, the last term of university was Dan’s own personal form of hell.

Unable to take the pressurised, terrifying, _stifling_ atmosphere of the designated university library any more, Dan had collected his belongings from his tiny university room and strode straight over to the public library, planning on setting up camp there instead.

One good thing about studying in a city as large as Manchester was that there were an endless amount of places to go and study, including ones that weren’t explicitly linked to the university. Dan was rather proud of his find – a little library tucked away in a quieter corner of the city. The twenty minute bus journey was completely worth the peaceful, quiet, and slightly-less-stressed alternative to the packed university campus.

Dan quickly occupied one of the corner sofas of the little library. He dragged a table over to the comfiest armchair, wincing apologetically at the squeak of the legs against the wooden floor. The other occupants glared at him. Even in this sheltered corner of the city, the students remained abundant, taking over the tables and sofas and bean bags with their constant spread of books and laptops.

Dan settled himself in as quickly and quietly as he could. His spot was near the window, a socially-acceptable distance away from the other occupants – even this library was mostly full. Exam season got _everywhere._ The space opposite Dan was also occupied by a sofa and a desk, although it was currently abandoned aside from a laptop left on standby on the desk, and a bag and coat slung messily over the chair. Dan did his best not to tut. Spaces in libraries were like gold dust – it was considered the rudest of student etiquette to take over a space without even sitting in it. Whoever had left their stuff over that seat must be the worst kind of person.

Taking his mind away from the distraction, Dan focused instead on the rather imminent problem of his essay deadline the next morning. He folded his long limbs up into the sofa and curled up, spreading out his various books on the desk and settling in with his laptop on his lap. 5,000 words in nineteen hours – he could do that, right? And he’d just conveniently forget about his five exams and presentation that he still had yet to do – at least up until right before the deadline.

Time passed agonisingly slowly. Students came and went throughout the day, the constant ebb and flow only serving as another distraction. Dan’s seat was inconveniently close to the door, so a gust of cool breeze tickled his legs every time someone entered or left. As the day drew into evening, the air was growing increasingly colder.

Dan’s attempts to remain focused were sabotaged by the tiniest things – the noise of the people walking past the window, the fascinating discussion two people behind him were having in rushed whispers, the unlimited power of his own ability to procrastinate—

–And, as it happened, the sudden loud ringing of a phone.

Dan jumped. He dragged his eyes away from the flickering cursor on his laptop screen, sharpening up when he recognised the ringtone because _it was the Pokemon theme tune._ Dan wasn’t the only student to look up, and several people were checking their phones, but the ringing kept on insistently until the call must have connected to voicemail.

Good riddance. Dan buried his head back in his laptop, trying to figure out the best way to phrase the necessity of the bureaucratic court system. He barely even understood it himself, but his textbooks were dense and difficult and didn’t really offer him any helpful definition. In the end, he did the forbidden student thing and logged onto _Wikipedia_. Desperate times, and all that.

Only about a minute went past before the Pokemon theme started going again.

Dan glanced back up and was met with the very angry glare of another student. He blinked, sitting up a little straighter. The phone _did_ sound like it was ringing somewhere close to him, but Dan knew for a fact that his phone was on silent, and his ringtone wasn’t anywhere near as cool as the Pokemon theme.

Dan stubbornly went back to his laptop, on edge until the phone stopped ringing again. His essay wasn’t going to write itself, and he was still 3000 words shy of the minimum requirement. No way would his tutor give him another extension, not after all the rubbish he’d already given the law department this year. He’d been scraping past by the skin of his teeth, and he couldn’t afford to mess up anymore.

_“I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was…”_

Barely two minutes went past before the ringtone started up _again._ Dan shrunk behind his laptop screen, not quite daring to look up this time. He could hear irritated shuffling and grumpy muttering from every angle. To Dan, though, the song was actually a nice background noise – he’d never complain about having more Pokemon in his life.

“Hey, mate,” an irritated voice sounded from somewhere to Dan’s left. “You – you, with the black jacket. Can you get that?”

Dan looked up to see the same angry student from before glaring at him.

_It’s not even my phone,_ Dan wanted to snap back, but his chest clenched with anxiety at just the thought. Instead, he offered a tired glare and shifted around, extracting his own, obviously silent, phone from his pocket.

The other student looked a little chagrined. She retreated back behind her book with a muttered “Sorry,” which Dan accepted with a curt nod before sliding his phone back into his pocket. He checked the time quickly – 20:30. He should be able to head home soon, to which his rumbling stomach avidly applauded.

He allowed himself a quick five-minute break to check YouTube – bless this library’s free wifi – and felt more than a little disappointed when his subscription box remained empty. Ah, well, he still had the new AmazingPhil video from the night before that he’d only watched three times, so no doubt there’d be more detail to pick up. He could watch that over his dinner later, once this stupid essay was written.

Dan managed five more lines before the phone rang _again._ And ok, even Dan couldn’t survive the Pokemon theme this many times in the space of ten minutes.

With an irritable glance up, Dan saw the majority of the other students in the library glaring his way. He lifted his arms helplessly – the phone wasn’t his. It must be one of theirs then, surely? Dan cocked his head, listening closely, and actually—

The ringtone was coming from the sofa opposite Dan, the one with the coat and bag and laptop on standby that had remained conspicuously empty the whole time Dan had been sitting there.

Dan frowned. That was just plain rude. What kind of student took over an entire seat in a library during _exam season,_ then walked off and abandoned it, _and_ left their phone switched on? Had they never even _heard_ of manners?

When the phone rang out, and then started up _again,_ Dan had finally had enough. Accompanied by the grateful stares of the other students, Dan slammed his laptop down on his desk and strode over to the unoccupied chair. He glared down at the relentless ringing, but hesitated, unsure if he should _actually_ rifle through someone else’s belongings. Didn’t that technically count as stealing?

“If you don’t do it, I will,” threatened the student from earlier.

Dan took one glance at her dangerous stare and decided it would probably be better for the phone if he just sorted it out.

So, biting back his questioning morals, Dan leaned down and carefully opened up the coat. It was a metallic grey colour with a frankly disgusting orange hood, puffy and huge and lined with thick fleece. Dan rifled quickly through the pockets until he found the offending phone and pulled it out with a triumphant grin.

The other students gave a quiet cheer.

Dan smirked a little as he glanced down at the screen. A photo of some guy with curly brown hair flashed up, accompanied by the words _Jake (uni) calling._

Dan arched a brow as the phone rang out again in his hands. There were five missed calls listed in the notifications, all from the same number. It must be important, surely? Just as he thought this, the phone started ringing _again,_ and there was a collective groan from the other students.

Dan bit his lip. He only had a few seconds to debate, though, before the angry student looked like she’d grab the phone from his failing grip and chuck it through the window, and if the guy had called _six times_ then it must be important.

So Dan pressed _accept_ and nervously lifted the phone to his ear. “Erm. Hello?”

“ _Phiiiiiiiiiiil!”_ The voice on the other end was uncomfortably loud.

Dan flinched, holding it away from his ear. “Er, no, actually, this is—“

“ _Mate, there’s sooooo much I need to tell you!”_ The guy’s words were slurring a bit. “ _I just – hic – I just knew you should know. Eliza said.”_

“Actually—” Dan tried again, but the voice was already continuing, slurred and loud.

_“You didn’t come to the partyyyy – dunno what excuse you had – but there’s – man – there’s so much you’re missing!”_

“This isn’t actually—”

_“Pete is here! Y’know Pete, y’remember him, right? He’s never even been in the country for years!”_

“I’m not—”

_“He keeps asking after you.”_ The other guy hiccupped loudly, his voice getting a little emotional. _“And I have to keep saying you aren’t here. Why aren’t you here? I miss ya.”_

Dan was, by now, feeling extraordinarily embarrassed. His face felt far too hot, and his free hand was clenched so tight around the hem of his t-shirt that he risked ripping through the threads. “See, I’m not actually—”

_“I wanted to see you again,”_ the guy said miserably. _“I needed to tell ya something.”_

“I’m really not—”

_“I mean, I didn’t want to, but Eliza said you’d wanna know and I should tell ya. I should always tell ya, y’know, but I thought it was a bad idea—“_

“It probably is.”

_“—And I wasn’t going to say anything—”_

“Please don’t.”

_“—But then Eliza gave me those shots—”_

“I’m not him!”

_“—And it’s only right you know how much I love you—”_

“Please stop talking!” Dan said loudly, and then flinched at the ferocity of the glares he received. He sat down abruptly in the seat with the coat and bag still on it, his fingers slippery around the phone that didn’t even belong to him. He’d never felt more awkward in his entire life (and for Dan, that was saying something).

There was an abrupt silence from the other end of the phone.

“I’m really sorry,” Dan hastily explained, “But I’m not – I’m not the owner of this phone, I just found it and it was ringing…”

A long and incredibly uncomfortable silence followed.

_“So – so you’re not Phil?”_ The other guy finally asked, sounding suddenly subdued.

“No,” Dan tried to sound sympathetic. “Um, actually, my name’s Dan.”

_“Oh._ ”

“Yeah.” Dan scratched the back of his head with his free hand, finally releasing the hem of his shirt. “Um. Sorry.”

_“Oh. So where’s Phil?”_

“I’d love to know,” Dan muttered. He lifted his head, scanning the crowd, and nearly fell out of his seat when he met the eyes of a very tall man standing over him with one eyebrow raised.

Dan stared, open-mouthed, the phone still clutched to his ear. The guy loomed over him, and he would have been intimidating if it weren’t for the Pokemon shirt he was wearing and the mismatched patterned socks Dan could see poking out from the bottom of his trousers. His hair mirrored Dan’s, only it was much darker, and his piercing blue eyes held Dan fast in place.

…And oh, _shit._ Shit shit shit. Dan _recognised_ him.

The guy tilted his head, a small smile at his lips. “Excuse me, but I think you’re sitting in my seat.”

And there went the remaining vestiges of Dan’s common sense, because _that was AmazingPhil’s voice._

AmazingPhil’s voice, coming out of AmazingPhil’s mouth, from AmazingPhil’s body which was very much standing in front of Dan right now.

_And Dan was sitting in his seat, on his fucking phone._

Dan’s grip went slack in shock, and the phone clattered down to land with a dull _thud_ on the desk. The muffled sound of the other guy’s voice could still be heard, but Dan was too caught up with staring at AmazingPhil to notice.

_Literal AmazingPhil, standing right in front of him._ Dan was torn between thinking all his Christmases had come at once and wanting to dive out of the nearest window.

AmazingPhil glanced down at the table, his brow furrowing. “Isn’t that my phone?”

“Ah,” Dan started, his throat dry. Under AmazingPhil’s curious gaze he realised he had absolutely no idea how to explain himself.

Luckily, Phil just grinned and then scooped up his phone, talking into it. “Hello? Oh – hey, Jake. I – no, I was in the bathroom and then I got distracted by the Stephen King section. I – oh – oh, come on, we’ve had this conversation, remember?”

Dan couldn’t seem to stop staring.

“You know better than to call me when you’re drunk,” AmazingPhil said gently, his eyes fixed on Dan. He rolled his eyes a little, and Dan allowed himself a chuckle that sounded more like a squeak.

“Jake – are you with Eliza? Yeah? Good, go find Eliza and get her to bring you home. Call me in the morning if you remember this, ok? And can you get her to text me when you’re safely home? Yeah – yes, ok – ok Jake, take care. Yes, I know. Go and sleep, now.” AmazingPhil hung up with a long-suffering sigh, still never looking away from Dan. “Sorry about that. He’d had a bit too much at a party.”

“I gathered,” Dan managed, still staring open-mouthed at him.

AmazingPhil chuckled. His voice sounded deeper in person. “You talked to him, then?”

“Erm.” Dan swallowed. “Yeah. Um. Actually. He kind of confessed his undying love to me. Well – to you – but he thought I was you, um, so—“

AmazingPhil snickered. “Jake’s confessed his love to twenty different people every night he gets drunk over the past four years.”

“Oh.” Dan blinked, and deeply berated the small but loud part of him that was glad AmazingPhil wasn’t tied down to someone else.

After a couple of moments’ silence, AmazingPhil tilted his head and gestured vaguely to Dan. “So, um. Not that I’m complaining, but I think you’re still in my seat.”

“Oh!” Dan squeaked. He rushed to clamber to his feet, stumbling out of the way and almost tripping over the table. _Smooth._ “Sorry, I – I wasn’t stealing your seat, it’s just – your phone kept ringing…”

Phil blinked. “I didn’t leave it on silent?”

Dan shook his head. He allowed the tiniest of smirks to lift the corner of his mouth. “Nice Pokemon theme, by the way.”

Much to his delight, a slight pink flush graced AmazingPhil’s cheeks.

“I mean it, actually,” Dan added as he settled back into his own seat. “Red will always be my go-to game.”

AmazingPhil cast him an interested look from his own sofa – the seat Dan had been in just a few seconds ago, and he really shouldn’t be freaking out this much that he and AmazingPhil had indirectly shared butt-space.

…That sounded more wrong than he’d meant.

“Why Red, though?” AmazingPhil’s nose wrinkled. “I’m a SoulSilver fan, all the way.”

Dan’s jaw dropped. “Ok, if it weren’t for the fact that you’re my _literal_ YouTube idol, I think I’d have to unfollow you right now.”

AmazingPhil gave a surprised sounding laugh, but his eyes brightened with interest and he sat forwards a little, leaning towards Dan. “You’re one of my subscribers?”

Dan choked. He stared down at the ground, muttering, “That’s really beside the point. You have to want a _first gen_. SoulSilver? _Really?_ ”

“Red is the best of the first gens,” AmazingPhil agreed mildly, “But SoulSilver has a cuter design.”

Dan huffed. “I should have expected that from _you._ Your Bulbasaur plushie is from that era, isn’t it?”

“Ok, you _definitely_ watch my videos.” Amazing Phil sounded delighted. “And yes. Impressive level of stalking, by the way.”

Dan floundered for a minute, unsure how to take that. He decided to screw everything and settled on nodding proudly. “Well. I’ve been a fan for ages.”

“Really?”

“Mm-hm.” Dan glanced up at Phil through his lashes, a little thrilled that he’d caught his interest.

“How long?”

“Since I discovered your channel as an awkward teenager.” Dan lifted a shoulder in a half-shrug. “Found a kindred spirit in the awkward AmazingPhil, only you managed to make it entertaining.”

“Hey, I’m not _that_ awkward,” Phil disagreed. “And just call me Phil. What’s your name? Dan, I think you said when you were stealing my phone.”

Dan groaned loudly. “I didn’t _steal_ it. You were upsetting literally everyone here, I had to do _something_.”

As if to prove his point, the same student from earlier hushed them loudly, glaring over the top of her textbook.

“Oops,” Phil answered in a hushed whisper. He got to his feet, stashing his laptop – still on standby, Dan was having a slight heart-attack at that – into his bag and shrugging on his coat. “Come outside with me?”

Dan glanced a little guiltily at his laptop, and the 3000 words still needing to be written before the morning.

“Unless you’ve got work to do?” Phil followed his gaze, and was Dan imagining the way he looked a little disappointed?

Dan and his laptop had a five-second staring contest, but then Dan got abruptly to his feet and grinned at Phil. “Nothing that can’t wait. Let’s go.”

\---

The outside of the library was cold enough to send goosebumps rising up Dan’s arms, but the discomfort was the last thing on his mind, because he was standing in a tiny little alcove with _AmazingPhil._ And AmazingPhil was laughing at what Dan said, and keeping up a keen conversation with him. He asked all about Dan’s law degree, made sympathetic noises in all the right places, and even listened to him rant about his favourite anime ships without judging. AmazingPhil even joined _in._

The sky turned darker and the streetlights came on, and it was way past time to be heading back if Dan wanted to avoid the drunken party-goers (because even exam season couldn’t put off the most dedicated of students), but Dan and Phil stayed in their little alcove, chatting about nothing and everything under the universe.

At least, they were until Phil glanced up at his phone and winced a bit at the time. “Shouldn’t you be getting back?”

As Dan’s face fell, Phil quickly rushed to add, “I mean, not that I want you to go. But I remember uni, it must be around exam season now, right?”

Dan grimaced. “Don’t remind me.”

“You have my every sympathy.” Phil clapped a hand on Dan’s shoulder, and Dan melted a bit. “But if you’re in first year then it doesn’t matter too much if you mess up.”

“That’s honestly a relief,” Dan muttered, “Because I don’t think I’m going to do very well.”

Phil made a sympathetic noise. “If you ever want an escape, you can come visit.”

Dan’s eyes widened.

“I mean,” Phil added with a small smirk, “If you think you’d be able to stand the inevitable fangirling.”

Dan squawked.

“I’m assuming it’s not a _complete_ coincidence you chose Manchester to study in,” Phil continued wickedly. “I’ve mentioned living here in my videos a lot…”

“Ok, you need to _stop_ now,” Dan spluttered.

Phil burst out laughing, and the sound was warm and trickled over Dan like a refreshing breeze. When he calmed a little, his blue eyes were dancing at Dan. “But, I’m serious. The offer stands if you need an escape – I know what uni can be like.”

Dan could feel the smile creeping over his face. “I’d love that.”

Phil grinned back, and he offered Dan his phone. “You’ve already had this once, so you might as well stick your number in there. I mean, if you haven’t already.”

“I’m not in the habit of giving random strangers my number,” Dan huffed.

“Oh? Just your YouTube idols then?”

“ _Phil_!”

Phil laughed again, and Dan couldn’t even bring himself to be that mad. He put his number into Phil’s phone with all the reverence the situation required, and at Phil’s knowing little smirk, Dan shoved him in the side.

“I’ll walk you back?” Phil offered, and Dan grinned.

“I mean, I am perfectly capable of walking across the city by myself, but I won’t turn down the opportunity to talk to you some more.”

Phil beamed in response, and even went so far as to offer his arm to Dan. Dan stared at him, unimpressed, but then thought _to hell with it_ and grabbed Phil’s arm with his fingers delicately spread.

They walked through the city of Manchester late at night, arm in arm, and paid no mind to any comments thrown their way. Because Phil was regaling Dan with all the ridiculous events that he seemed to attract, and Dan laughed loudly and said it was much better than studying law, and they clung to each other the entire time.

And, truthfully, Dan never let go.


End file.
